After the short beer/wine intermission between the David Dixon and Barbie collections, the show had to go on! Barbie by David Dixon show that is. As I already unboxed my Sassy Barbie-friend, all three of us (Barbie, Al and I) were watching intently as the inspiration for the Spring collection played before our eyes. Apparently, one of Dixon’s fave movies – “Funny Face” with Audrey Hepburn, inspired his designs this year. An avid Hepburn fan, I almost squealed with delight when the movie clips were shown (unfortunately sans Audrey). And while the prelude to the show had me eager to see the clothes, the collection itself left me a bit disappointed.

“Think Pink” indeed. I guess what else do you expect from a Barbie collection, right? Lots of pink, polka dots, and Barbie-appropriate office clothing. It was all way too girlie for my taste, though it was right up Al’s alley. She wasn’t a fan of Dixon’s signature collection, but loved the Barbie-inspired one. We even got to see a couple of Kens strutting their stuff!

But for me, the most exciting part of the show by far was…the models’ walks. Not to be mean, but most of the girls weren’t able to walk straight. As you can see, the models wore black socks with their black peep toe pumps. And it looked like the shoes they wore were either extremely uncomfortable or too big. As far as esthetics go, I am not at all a fan of that look, but seeing the models teeter-tottering and straining to keep their shoes from falling off, made us fear that another Prada-like sock-gate would happen as I watched the front row attendees (including Rick Mercer and Fashion Television’s Jeanne Beker) looking intently at models’ feet, instead of the collection.

All in all, David Dixon’s signature line was my fave, while Al preferred the Barbie collection. After the show, we even got to pose in our own Barbie-like boxes! And though I didn’t love that LG Fashion Week moved away from its usual Nathan Phillips Square location, I still felt that this year’s events were bigger and better than last! Here’s hoping that Canadian fashion industry will continue to grow and improve. Obviously, it’s not New York Fashion Week, and LG tent is not comparable to the Bryant Park ones, but Toronto is where the heart is for me, and that makes Toronto Fashion Week just as special!

Was so happy to have made it to the David Dixon show last week! Did not really have any kind of expectations, and as a result really loved a lot of the pieces. Dixon’s Spring/Summer 2010 collection inspired by the “Hanging Gardens of Babylon” was flowy, feminine, and fun! And since Al managed to snag two second row seats, we had a prime view of the collection! Loved the lime green cocktail dresses and the silky skirts all would look amazing at wedding receptions! See, I still can’t stop thinking about what to wear to the January wedding of my friend! Well, if Dixon’s designs will be available before January (unlikely, but one can hope), I’ll definitely be trying them on as one of the alternatives!

So to finish off, I really liked David Dixon’s signature collection. Even loved some of the pieces. Dresses were definitely my style, modern and flirty. Plus, to me it was one of the stronger collections this year – less theatrics, and more focus on the actual clothes. Andy Thê-Anh is still my favorite Canadian designer, but David Dixon just became a close second!

Seems so soon, but LG Fashion Week is now officially over! I was planning on attending a few events this fall, but unfortunately, due to the insanity that was my life last week, I only had time (and energy) for one! Thanks to the lovely GCI people for inviting Al and I to the Mattel Media Presentation, as well as both David Dixon and Barbie by David Dixon fashion shows.

The media presentation focused on the launch of the new line of poseable Fashionista Barbie dolls, as well as a new (old?) Barbie dance, and of course, the David Dixon for Barbie collection. Barbies everywhere! And appropriately enough, Al and I each received a Barbie doll in our goodie bags! Man, was I ever happy to get my hands on one! Mine was Sassy and Al’s was Wild! And while I can see the issues that others bring up about Barbie’s impossible body, if I had to choose between a sleazy Bratz doll and a Barbie, the latter would win every time! Plus, I played with Barbies when I was a kid, and I turned out just fine. So while Al had the patience to keep her doll intact, I ripped it out of the packaging the moment I had a chance to sit down! It had brown hair, just like me! Score!

But as much as we loved our dolls, the Barbie dance…well, it wasn’t something that I enjoyed. And the dancers didn’t seem to enjoy the corny moves either. We all know the “I’m a Barbie girl” song, right? Well, the introduction of the “new” dance to the old song just seemed a bit forced and not at all necessary. The moves weren’t anything new or exciting and I was actually a bit embarrassed for the dancers, but they did their thing, so I guess we can give them an “A” for effort?

After the presentation, we were escorted to the David Dixon fashion show, where Al and I managed to score a couple of second row seats despite the packed showroom! Thanks Mattel! David Dixon’s “Hanging Gardens of Babylon” show review is next!

Apparently, if I were a Barbie, I’d be Sassy!

Check out the stylish Backseat Stylers, rocking an H&M dress with Loub booties! Hotness! Love the army (?) boots too!

Ok, so now that I’ve gone and done it, I can let the cat out of the bag! Last week I’ve been shortlisted as one of the 50 finalists in the Yorkdale is Me contest! Woo-hoo! Right? WRONG! Along with today’s photo-shoot, all contestants had to record a 30-second video of themselves letting the world (Toronto) know why they should vote for them. And since public speaking has always been my kryptonite, I sounded very much like that Miss Teen USA South Carolina contestant…In my head it went something like this: “I personally believe that US Americans are unable to do so, because some people out there in our nation don’t have that, and I believe that our education like such as eh in South Africa and the Iraq everywhere like such as, and I believe that they should…our education over here in the US should help the US…or should help South Africa and should help the Iraq and the Asian countries so we will be able to build up our future.” So vote for me, yes? I now have a newfound sympathy for all of those pageant contestants. Yes, I do.

Other than the horror of being videotaped, the rest of the day was very fun and relaxing. Many thanks go out to the wonderful Yorkdale team! They made everyone feel welcome and at ease! And I’d like to especially thank the video guy, Mark, who let me re-shoot my cliched bore of a video-wreck, though my second one definitely left him puzzled (i.e. him asking me if I was sure about my little soundbite). Mission accomplished! So if you guys will be so nice as to vote for me, you might want to skip the video and go straight to the photos/write-up. Please and thank you! If, however, you do choose to view the horrid thing, you might get a few laughs out of it, or will decide to never be in front of a video-camera ever again. No need to thank me!

Will post the details of when the voting begins, as soon as I find out. Here’s hoping that the photographer Alex was right, and that he got at least one good photo from the shoot! Wish me luck and vote for me!

If you’ve been trying to come up with a fun and current Halloween costume this year, look no further! Geniuses at Newsweek came up with the top Halloween Costume predictions for 2009! Costume suggestions include the Balloon Boy, a few (allegedly) crooked politicos, a couple’s costume of Kanye West and Taylor Swift, Swine Flu (!) and the scariest of all…Lady Gaga! My fave is of course Bruno! If I were a guy, I would totally dress like him for Halloween this year! Not only is he totally fabulous, but imagine all the fun you can have harassing everyone around you?! Achhh ya!

As you have probably heard, Flare Magazine is now 30! And to celebrate this fun occasion, the magazine partnered up with a few great stores to thank its readers and to prove to everyone that the magazine is as fabulous as ever at 30! Last night, Al and I attended the BCBG party on Bloor St. in Toronto. While the scale of the party was nowhere near that of H&M‘s, the beautiful dresses more than made up for it! Did you know that BCBG stands for Bon Chic, Bon Genre (Good Style, Good Attitude)? Good style and good attitude? Check! As well as champagne and my favorite macarons from MoRoCo!

As you all probably know already (from all my whining on this blog), I desperately need 2 dresses to go to 2 weddings! And my search has been nothing but a big whopping disappointment! Last night, however, I found an awesome dress, that is definitely a shoo-in to be a winner (not that there’s much competition). I’ll be posting some dresses I tried on last night in a separate post later, but in the meantime, I just wanted to give you all a heads up that BCBG|Max Azria stores are offering 20% off all regular merchandise in honor of Flare’s 30th birthday! Fabulous, no?

You can RSVP here. Events are happening in Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, Calgary, and obviously Toronto. Have fun and don’t forget to wish Flare a Happy Birthday!

Paris Fashion Week wraps up tomorrow, but I am too anxious to wait, so I’ll give you my faves today! Oh, Paris, how I love thee! So many amazing designers, so many beautiful creations…oh, how I wish I was there. I’ve been to Paris a few times now, and every time I find something different, something new to love about the city of light. And as far as fashion weeks go, this one is my favorite, hands down.

Above from left to right: Christian Dior, Balmain, Nina Ricci

Again, I’m not sure if it’s because I am trying to see it, or if it really is an upcoming trend, but I am seeing nudes everywhere! But this being the Spring 2010 fashion week, there was plenty of color too! My favorite yellow at Stella McCartney, aqua at Viktor & Rolf, Kenzo, and McQueen, gorgeous red at Lanvin, orange at John Galliano, and many others.

Above from left to right: Stella McCartney, Lanvin, Viktor & Rolf

And while I love me some Chanel, I wasn’t very impressed with anything from the spring collection this time around (or maybe it’s the clogs), so I am not including it in the highlights lineup. The collection I am definitely including is Alexander McQueen! Just look at the details! It’s underworld meets bug’s life! The fabrics, the shapes, the shoes, the hair! I couldn’t pick one, I love it all!

And while, others are showering Louis Vuitton’s collection with praise, to me…I just didn’t get it. More clogs, furry tails hanging off shoes, mish-mash of shapes and patterns. Not my cup of tea. And seriously, are you kidding me with this…are clogs really going to be in this coming spring??? I, for one, will never ever wear clogs! This is a promise. There’s far too many beautiful shoes out there to waste my time wearing something so ugly!

So c’est tout for Paris Fashion Week Spring 2010. I’m feeling a little sad to have to wait until the Resort collections will be released, but I think we had a great run with all these amazing clothes from London, New York, Paris, Milan…I guess we all can start making our wish lists for spring!

I just wanted to take a little break from my deathbed (just kidding) to thank a few people for supporting and sponsoring me at last weekend’s CIBC Run for the Cure. Thank you Jag, Harmit, James, Peter, Ashish, Jon, and Karen for donating your hard-earned cash towards this wonderful cause! Without your donations, I would probably not feel guilty enough to actually run and give it my all last Sunday. I’d have probably ended up sleeping instead, to get better, but I didn’t. I ran like the wind…very slow wind, but that’s besides the point. My co-worker Linda and I crossed the finish line after running the 5K in about 35 minutes! Not too shabby, considering my upper-respiratory problems! So yes, thank you ladies and gents for your sponsorship! I also want to thank le boyfriend (who finished the race in 25 minutes), my mom, and my friends, for being so very supportive of me! I know it wasn’t a marathon, but considering my fitness (or lack of thereof), it was a freaking miracle that I even crossed the finish line!

28,000 people participated in the Toronto run this year! And the event raised $4.1 million towards breast cancer research in Toronto alone. Hopefully that translates into a lot of saved tatas! If you want to see pics from the run or donate to this cause, please go to the official website www.cibcrunforthecure.com. Lainey Gossip also has some pics of the Jonas brothers participating in the event. Had no idea that they were even there…so random.

Speaking of cool movies, are you going to watch Coco Avant Chanel (starring Audrey Tautou) this weekend? The movie opens in Canada October 2nd and is a love story as well as a peek into the origins of one of the most famous women in fashion! Perfect for a girls’ night out!

Last week, my girls and I attended Flare Mag’s 30th anniversary party thrown by H&M. With wine and martinis free-flowing, hors d’oeuvres passed around, fashionable people at every corner, and a 20% discount on everything in the store…the party was guaranteed to be a success! The best-selling Canadian fashion magazine’s birthday party drew in a pretty large crowd, with people lining up to get in, and the lineups for the fitting rooms…well, let’s just say I didn’t get to try anything on. The first 200 shoppers also received H&M/Flare gift bags (H&M magazine, Flare magazine, and a piece of jewelry from H&M).

All in all, we had a great time; got to meet a few cool people and reconnect with old acquaintances. Jo and Al both put the discount to good use, and bought a few things. Alcohol coupled with music and slashed prices? Is there a better way to shop? I think not!

We didn’t stick around for the “special fashion presentation”, so if any of you attended it, let me know how that went!

WHAT I WORE

WHO IS NELIA?

Nelia Belkova is a Toronto-based fashion and lifestyle blogger by night and a financial analyst by day. She loves to travel, read gossip sites, eat sweets, and cuddle up to her husband and her cat on the couch. Read More…